The Guangzhou R&F left-back endured a miserable game against Iran, as he inexplicably headed the ball into the path of goalscorer Mehdi Taremi in the 1-0 defeat.

However, the worst was yet to come as his wife, Zhang Zhiyue, posted a sensational allegation on her Weibo account on Wednesday, seemingly spilling the beans, with Jiang filing for divorce after apparently falling for his alleged mistress, Xiao Bing.

“I supported him when he was still a poor lad and my mum treated him like her own son, my family even chipped in with 1 million RMB to cover the down payment for his house in Shanghai,” she wrote. “We didn’t have a wedding ceremony and our relationship was never made public.

“In nearly three-and-a-half years out of four-year marriage, he was sleeping with other women and now he is trying to drive me to an early grave despite our decades-long relationship.”

She also posted several graphic messages between the player and Xiao.

Jiang Zhipeng

Jiang Zhipeng

Zhang has now threatened legal action against Jiang, and has also begged the Chinese Football Association and Guangzhou to expel her husband from their squads.

“Dear Mr. Cai Zhenhua, the head of the Chinese football association, I beg you to expel Jiang Zhipeng from the Chinese national football team.

"Dear Mr. Wang Yuping, director of the Sports Bureau of Guangdong Province, I beg you to expel Jiang Zhipeng from Guangzhou R&F.

"Dear Mr. Zhang Li, the president of Guangzhou R&F Football Club, I beg you to cooperate with my lawyer and submit Jiang Zhipeng’s work contract as evidence to the court. I believe justice will be served.”